


Right From the Start

by genki_blonde



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Bilbo Is Awesome, Bilbo is adopted, But it's no biggie, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, It's very Midsomer Murders, M/M, Not Everyone Has Verbal Skills, That's just how I roll, That's why Thorin Loves him, There's a Murder, Thorin Feels, Thorin and Dwalin work for the police, and Dwalin's brother
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-03
Updated: 2014-02-03
Packaged: 2018-01-11 01:30:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1166997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genki_blonde/pseuds/genki_blonde
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thorin is in love.</p>
<p>With his best friend's adoptive younger brother.</p>
<p>There's also a murder and suspicious circumstances that hit very close to home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Right From the Start

**Author's Note:**

> So I love Midsomer Murders and the third season of Sherlock just ended where I'm from. Those series are both to blame for this. :D
> 
> The title is from the Pink song Just Give me a Reason which I was humming while writing this. (I hum, it's annoying. I know.)
> 
> Also posted to my tumblr at burana006.tumblr.com

In Thorin's opinion the green door was approaching supernaturally fast.

No matter how much he tried to slow his pace, the short walk from the stylishly painted gate to the two-story house still took too little time.

He was certain he would not survive this morning. Yet, here he was, a respected Sergeant, a part of the Erebor CID, Thorin Durin, and he was afraid to knock on a door. Especially a door that he faced practically every day. But today was different.

"Please, don't let it be him at the door again. Please, not him. Please." In desperation Thorin begged the heavens while quietly mumbling to himself. However, there was no salvation in store for him as the door opened to a pair of green eyes and a happy face.

"Oh! Thorin! Good morning!" The man standing in the door way was wearing an untied robe with pajama bottoms and a threadbare t-shirt. Thorin's eyes kept drinking in the other man, scanning him slowly from bare toes to the curly locks of gold on the man's head. The sight was breathtaking. Bilbo was breathtaking.

"...Morning", he managed to utter. Bilbo just smiled radiantly at him. "You're here for Dwalin? I'll get him for you. Just a second." And Thorin found himself alone on the front steps. The impulse to bash his head against the doorjamb was hard to resist but eventually he succeeded. Dwalin would murder him if he ever found out about Thorin's pathetic crush on his superior's adoptive brother. His job as a DI would not even deter the man. Hell, it would most likely only help him.

Thorin groaned and stepped in to wait for Dwalin in the spacious foyer. He caught a glimpse of Bilbo and something flipped in his belly. Thorin was doomed.

 

***

 

The Fundinsons had adopted Bilbo when he was only a five-year-old child after the boy had tragically lost his parents in a car accident. Both the biological boys in the Fundinson family, Balin and Dwalin, had with time grown to adore their baby brother and they were fiercely protective of the little one. Hardly ever did Bilbo go anywhere without one of his brothers accompanying him.

Erebor being a relatively small county, nearly everyone knew everyone and it was rare for any of the locals to leave to pursue higher education or better careers, thus it came as a surprise that not only had Bilbo applied and been accepted to the University of Mirkwood but his family also allowed him to go.

During the following years Bilbo hardly ever visited Erebor as he had chosen the fast track which meant graduating in three years instead of the usual four and added a heavier workload. Bilbo studied both art and history with some courses in foreign languages wherever he had a free slot for extra classes.

After graduation he returned home and moved in with his brother, Dwalin. As the Detective Inspector, the older man often worked late which gave Bilbo the freedom to draw. And paint. The wooden front gate and their green door had been done by him and they looked now a lot more inviting in Bilbo's eyes.

 

***

 

"Ah, laddie. How's yer morning goin'?" Dwalin emerged from upstairs and clapped Thorin on the shoulder. "Did Bilbo offer ya tea or sumthin', Thorin?" The taller man made his way towards the kitchen and on his way to the fridge softly patted Bilbo's hair as the younger man sat at the table with a cup of tea and the day's paper. Thorin's fingers itched to card themselves through those curls. "No thanks, Dwalin, I'm quite fine like this." Was it just him or was his voice huskier? Damn Bilbo for sitting right there.

"Apparently there's been a murder and we were asked to take a look." Thorin said while checking his watch. Anything to keep his eyes off Bilbo. The man was radiant and Thorin's eyes kept finding the younger man's form no matter what. Then Dwalin grabbed a coffee cup and a freshly baked bread roll off the counter and with a quick 'see ya' shouted to Bilbo from the door, they hurried to their car and started their work day.

While Bilbo had been in the University, Dwalin and Thorin had formed a firm partnership on the basis of their already deep friendship. Still, Thorin could not tell his friend about his feelings, but that did not stop him from feeling painfully transparent every time Bilbo's name came up in their conversation. This morning was not different. Barely five minutes after getting into the car, after Thorin had filled him in with the cursory facts concerning the dead body, Dwalin was talking about his baby brother.

"Bilbo's a good kid. He's arrangin' some sort of get together for the town-folk." Luckily, Thorin was driving and could merely grunt his replies. "He's got help from Ori, but I think ya could help out too. Needs someun to do all the heavy liftin' ya see." Dwalin gave him a look that was difficult to decipher. Thorin kept his eyes fixed on the road. He needed to say something using actual words.

”Oh, sounds nice... What kind of get together?” His palms were sweating on the wheel and his heart was beating erratically. ”I mean, of course. If there's anything I can help with, I will.” Thorin tried to smile, but it might have looked more like a grimace. There was no response from Dwalin, who was gulping down his coffee in between huge bites from the bread roll.

Thorin was certain Bilbo had made the roll. He tried to stamp down the jealousy roiling in his gut. The man was his partner's brother!

But Thorin really wanted Bilbo to bake things for him, too.

 

***

 

The crime scene was a mess. The body had been found along a popular footpath, half buried in the surrounding bushes. It had rained the night before so the path was muddy and occasionally drowned by deep puddles. The male victim was laying on his stomach under a tree, naked. When Dwalin and Thorin arrived, the crime scene investigators were wrapping up their gear. They could see the local pathologist, Oín, standing nearby.

Seeing the police approach, the older man waved and walked towards the body. He started his inspection while Dwalin and Thorin slipped under the police tape. Oín rose only to shake their hands before kneeling down again and beginning his usual muttering.

”The cause of death was some kind of poison. The coloration of his skin would suggest it and the highly suggestive fact that our victim has obvious traces of vomit in and around his mouth. Time of death is likely to be between four and six this morning. Can't say when he's been poisoned without knowing what was used to kill him. I would say he's in his late twenties. Possibly early thirties.” Dwalin hummed as the old pathologist stood up and dusted himself off. ”I will be able to give you more details after the autopsy, of course. Now, good day, gentlemen.” With that Oín was off and walking back to his car. The man never wasted time when there was work to be done. Thorin admired that in him.

Next, Dwalin and Thorin walked around the crime scene in case there were any possible clues for them to find. Also it might help them figure out how the man had got here and where he came from. The wet under bush and soggy ground made it slightly difficult and much wet to really discover anything so before long the two men were back in their car. If they were lucky, the body had already been identified and they could start interrogating people. It was Thorin's favourite part.

 

***

 

When they made it to the police station there had been no hits on the dead man. So Dwalin and Thorin sat down with backlogged paperwork until Dwalin ordered the Sergeant to go get them some decent coffee from the small café down the road.

As it happened, the rush hour was still going strong and while Thorin waited for their orders to be finished, he failed to notice the figure next to him. Until the man spoke, ”Thorin? What a surprise seeing you here! I thought you'd be at work.” Thorin turned and inhaled sharply. Oh fuck him! ”It's you! Err, I mean, hi! Umm. I was just, er, getting some coffee. For Dwalin. And me. Of course.” He felt like and idiot.

What was it that every time Bilbo was close, Thorin sounded like a half-wit? ”Paperwork, you know. Makes you crave caffeine. Heh heh.” He was basking in the radiant smile on those kissable lips. It was unfair that the man could be so beautiful and not know what it was doing to Thorin's sanity.

”What are you... I mean, why are you here?” In his nervousness Thorin's voice got deeper and growly so it sounded like he was accusing Bilbo of something. Bloody brilliant! The younger man cleared his throat, obviously uncomfortable, but soon there was a small smile tugging at his lips. ”A job interview if you must know. There's a first grade teacher's position open. Just popped in here for coffee. Nerves, see.” Bilbo was softly bouncing on the pads of his feet with excitement. Thorin aimed for an encouraging smile but it probably fell short. He was not good at smiling.

”You'll, eh, do great. Dwalin is constantly praising your people skills. And he says you're good with children, too.” The urge to pat Bilbo on the shoulder was almost too hard to resist. ”And you being so soft and artsy is only a plus, surely.” He tried to smile again, but while he was talking, the happiness had slowly been sucked out of those green eyes. Thorin frowned and Bilbo's eyes fell to stare at the floor of the coffee shop.

The shorter man heaved a sigh and shot a quick look at his watch. ”Hmm... Oh! Look at the time! I'll be, ah, late if I don't leave now. It was, um, good. To see you. Thorin. Bye!” Then the man sprinted out of the café, leaving Thorin to stare after him forlornly. It took a few times of the barista shouting his name before he snapped out of it and made his way back to the station with the coffees.

Dwalin had better enjoy his drink.

 

***

 

By the end of that week, a name had been matched with the body found on the footpath: Anton Serek, and the police had found out that the man had been in town for some pretentious nature conference and had stayed at a hotel in town. Yet, apparently there was no one in Erebor who knew the man in any capacity and so far there had been no new leads. The following week Dwalin and Thorin had spent questioning possible witnesses and retracing Serek's steps on the night he was murdered, but they had discovered nothing. The results on the poison used had been delayed in the lab, but the technicians had promised to get back to the DI as soon as the report was available.

This had given Thorin way too much time to spend thinking about Bilbo. Since their surprise meeting at the coffee shop the other man had been acting weird. Thorin had heard from Balin at their weekly poker night that Bilbo had got the teaching job and had still been surprisingly melancholy. What was worse, he no longer opened the door for Thorin when he came to pick up Dwalin in the mornings and if he did, there were no more radiant smiles, only pale copies and sad fakes.

Even Dwalin had started to notice that something was wrong between his brother and the Sergeant. Lately the Detective Inspector had been shooting Thorin suspicious looks, especially when the younger man was waiting at the door for his partner and Bilbo was bustling in the kitchen. Thorin groaned quietly and let his head thunk against his desk. How was this his life?

”Maybe it's the work troublin' the lad?” At the moment Dwalin was on the phone with his older brother, Balin. ”Or _someun_ at work?” It was practically a shout and sounded uncomfortably murderous. Then Thorin could hear Balin's placating tones, tinny from the receiver. His lips twitched in something akin to a smile. ”I've told the lad a million times to fix his hair. Perhaps if he looked more like a man, he'd be left alone. Nice braids or somethin'. Instead of those silly curls.” There was a deep growling sound which startled both Dwalin and Thorin before they realized that it originated from the younger man. Before either of them could say anything, the land-line rang.

Thorin rushed to answer in order to defuse the tense silence between Dwalin and him.”Erebor CID, Sergeant Durin speaking.” While he nodded and wrote quick notes on a piece of paper, Dwalin finished his phone call and turned to stare at his partner. There were a few minutes of hummed affirmations from the Sergeant and then, ”And you are sure it was not self-administered? Right. Thanks. Bye.” Thorin turned to look at his partner with a grin. ”So, the poison was from an amanita phalloides, also known as the death cap mushroom. The toxin in it's called alpha-amanitin, often causing fatal liver and kidney failures. Apparently it was mixed into the food served to him during the day as there were traces of the meal still in his stomach during the autopsy.” By the end of his explanation, Dwalin was smirking and they both grabbed their jackets and ran to their car.

 

***

 

”I say we start with the hotel. It was likely he ate there what with being about to leave the next day an' all.” There was a threatening gleam in Dwalin's eye as he made his plans. Thorin was driving as fast as he legally could and it resulted in grunted answers to his DI. ”Hope we can get someone to tell us who took him his food and was it prepared by the usual chef. Let's find this bastard and finish him.” Dwalin cracked his knuckles cheerfully.

It was frightening to experience. Especially if you were on the wrong side of the law.

It got quiet in the car after that as they were too hyped up on adrenaline after getting a new lead and both looked forward to eventually closing this case. At least this time they had something solid to investigate and could even ask questions without sounding too out of their depth. Before long they arrived at the hotel in question and requested permission to talk to the restaurant employees.

They were lucky and the kitchen staff was only willing to tell the police what they knew. Usually the guest would order something from a set room service menu and the meal would be prepared as soon as possible. When the serving was ready someone from the kitchen was sent to take it to the room in question. No one new or suspicious had been seen that night. As it had been a slow day, the kitchen had been run mostly by regulars and a few part-timers.

Suddenly one of the older workers exclaimed and pointed at Dwalin. ”I had almost forgotten, but your brother was also here that day. Bilbo. He sometimes comes to offer a hand to Bombur with the cooking. Oh, he enjoys it so much. If my memory serves, he was actually the one in charge of the room service that evening. And he also took some of the meals up to rooms.” She smiled warmly at him and offered them coffee. Thorin and Dwalin declined politely while trying to hide their shock at hearing about Bilbo's involvement. As soon as possible, they took their leave and sat in their car in silence.

Finally Thorin shook his head and was going to say something. Then he cleared throat before trying again. ”This could be nothing, you know. Still, we should go talk to your brother.” Thorin gripped the wheel tightly and set the car on gear. Suddenly there was no need hurry. Next to him Dwalin seemed to agree as he slowly laid back in the seat and closed his eyes.

 

***

 

The Fundinson house was dark when they arrived. But Bilbo was supposedly inside. Sometimes the bloody artist just forgot to turn on the lights if he was in the zone when it got dark. Dwalin spent a short moment searching for his keys while Thorin fixed his tie and checked the time like he had done about every five or so minutes since they had left the hotel.

As the door opened they could hear soft music from the upper floor. Dwalin and Thorin took the stairs calmly. They were both afraid what they were going to discover upstairs. The door to Bilbo's room was open as it often was. He liked to have a sense of freedom and space. The idea of Bilbo losing all that made something constrict in Thorin's throat. It would be painful to arrest the radiant man. He was so pure and good and all this new information did not sit well with Thorin's mental picture of Bilbo.

The floor creaked and startled the focused artist making him nearly fall off the chair he was sitting on. Those enchanting green eyes turned to the two police officers and Bilbo must have seen something in their faces, because he let out a resigned sigh. ”So, you talked to the people in the kitchen?” It was said with a small, sad smile. Thorin nodded.

”But laddie...? You killed the man?” Dwalin's hands were clenched into fists. He looked furious. Betrayed. ”What?! No!” Bilbo actually looked offended and a little bit scared maybe. He was standing unmoving next to his easel, back straight and a fire in his eyes. He had never before looked that beautiful.

”I did not kill Anton. The thought was there, though, I admit that. Such a selfish fool that man.” Bilbo stared his brother right in the eye. ”Though I had met him before. He did some courses at the Uni with me and we...talked.” This time the short man shot a quick look into the Sergeant's direction. Thorin was confused about that. It could not have meant that they had been lovers? Surely not! ”I'm certain he didn't know who I was or he wouldn't have told me his crazy plans. Luckily he did and I also conveniently happened to work at exact the hotel he stayed at. Made my plans easier. Now you probably know that he was here for a conference, but did either of you happen to find out what Anton Serek actually does?” There was a hint of amusement in Bilbo's words. He obviously knew his brother and Thorin too well.

Both Thorin and Dwalin looked uncomfortable in their skins. Bilbo was right in assuming that whatever it was that Mister Serek had worked with, it was not something that had been of much interest to either of the officers. The young man smiled softly at their confusion. ”Anton was an evironmental consultant. He knows the earth better than most people and then makes plans on how to best utilize the ground.” Something in Bilbo's fierce tone made Thorin think he could guess where this was going. ”In short, Anton Serek was going to distroy Erebor. This land is rich in minerals and nutrients, so the company had asked him to attend the conference about mining. And afterward he was to make plans for Erebor. I had to stop him, but I did not kill him. I did, however, steal all the documents concerning our home from his room.” Now the customary mysterious smile that Thorin was used to seeing, caressed those pouty lips once again. ”Actually, I'm pretty certain you'll find evidence that Mister Serek was somehow poisoned during the day at the conference. I felt that something wasn't quite right. As I was burglarising his room, I noticed he had been sick recently. Also all the windows were wide open as if the room had been too hot for him. Stifling even.”

Thorin could not help the sigh of relief when he realized that if he was right then Bilbo was for all intents and purposes innocent. ”Hah, so the respectable teacher sheds his boring normal life to play burglar in the night.” Hmm, apparently Thorin was still angry, too. Bilbo should not have done something so foolish without informing the police. He could have caused problems for Dwalin if anything had gone wrong. Obviously his partner agreed, because Dwalin had pursed his lips together and appeared to be a minute away from giving Bilbo a long lecture and then grounding the man afterwards. Thorin decided it was his que to leave and nodded once at Bilbo and then at the DI before marching back out. Their shift had already been over for some time and all the paperwork could luckily wait until the morning.

 

***

 

After the episode at the Fundindons it did not take long for Dwalin and Thorin to track down the catering company using the poisonous mushrooms, alert the proper authorities about the company's overt disregard for proper hygiene, write their reports on the case and fill out all the paperwork. During that time Thorin did not have time to talk to Bilbo. Actually, they barely even saw each other. Yet, Dwalin still had homemade pastries and buns or rolls with him, so they had managed to settle things and Bilbo was again baking for him. But whenever he came over, the house was always short one head of golden curls. Dwalin told him that Bilbo had taken to leaving for work earlier in the day and packing a breakfast to go indtead of waiting for his brother to start work. So, if Thorin had not been quite certain that the DI had not in fact grounded his little brother, he would have insisted that Bilbo was not allowed outside his room. Even all his offers of a helping hand with the organizing of the get together had been denied and Thorin did not know why.

Currently he was sitting at his desk inside the sweltering police station and trying to write down the details of the arrest of a purse snatcher from that morning. The arrest had only taken him maybe five minutes as there had been some quick-acting civilians who had run down the thief and held him until the police arrived. Those situations made him rethinkg his career choices, since there would always be those petty criminals lurking about and causing trouble for law-abiding citizens. Of course they also ensured that there would be a decent amount of police officers patrolling the streets and offering safety for people. But these damned reports were mind-numbing. He let his head fall on his crossed arms and he groaned into his elbow. It made him feel a little bit better.

 

Still, at the moment it was tedious and dull. There were things he would rather be doing like setting up the party tents and folding tables outside with the others or trying to find Bilbo and get him to tell him what is wrong.Thorin sighed deeply and stared at the document which was still nearly empty. Luckily the actual get together would not begin until six o'clock so he had hours to finish the report. He sighed again.

 

***

 

The party was in full swing when Thorin finally made it there. He spotted Balin under an oak tree deep in discussion with Oín and Dwalin had caught the elusive Ori who had been the co-organizer of this get together. The red head seemed to be enjoying himself with the DI as there was a sweet blush on his cheeks and a smile on his lips. The scene made Thorin smile, too. Seeing his friend happy made him feel better about this Bilbo thing.

As the evening got darker and darker, Thorin wandered listlessly amongst the people. He could not admit to himself that he was searching for a pair of green eyes under golden curls. He had managed to snatch himself a flute or three of champagne and was feeling pleasantly light-headed when suddenly there was a hand on his arm tugging him to follow. Thorin stared at the hand wrapped around his bigger one. The skin looked nearly luminescent against his darker tone and the fingers that had captured him were elegant and beautiful. Like an artist's hands.

They came to a stop near the children's playground under the monkey bars. It was quite dark around them as the light from the party did not reach where they stood. For the first time in weeks Bilbo actually looked right at him. Thorin felt his breath catch when their eyes met. ”You are an idiot.” The statement surprised the taller man and he was about to reply, but Bilbo silenced him with one gentle finger.

The skin felt soft against his lips. It was distracting. But then Bilbo spoke again, ”I understand that you are shy and incapable of using your words,” Thorin's brain was scrambling to comprehend what the other man was talking about, ”so I might forgive you for your insulting words.” This time the officer could not avoid mumbling through Bilbo's finger, ”What? Insults? What are you talking about?” There was a cute chuckle as the finger left Thorin's lips. ”See, this is what I meant, Thorin. You were probably not aware, but it is considered bad manners to tell someone they are soft and artsy when they are on their way to a job interview and want to stay smart. That and you made fun of both my job and the burglar thing in one sentence. Because everything I did it was for you, Thorin Durin.” Now there was a coy smile on Bilbo's lush lips. Thorin found he could not resist that smile.

”So you are my burglar, then, Bilbo Fundinson.” He carded those golden curls with his rough fingers as he had been longing to. The tumbling curls were even more silky than he had imagined. He brought his hands to gently cradle the burglar's soft cheeks and met those emerald eyes with his sapphire ones. Slowly tipping Bilbo's face upward Thorin lowered his head to bring their mouths together in a sweet kiss. Slowly Bilbo parted his lips and allowed Thorin's tongue entrance into his mouth. It was bliss. Utter bliss.

He spent long minutes exploring Bilbo's hot mouth with extra care and then bit gently on the man's lower lip, trying to lure Bilbo into following his lead and burglarising Thorin's mouth. With a hungry moan the shorter man obeyed and deepened the kiss. At first he licked and bit Thorin's lips until they glistened with saliva and then let his tongue go play with the other man's. With soft breaths and lazy groans they kissed and kissed until Bilbo suddenly broke their connection with a quick tug on Thorin's upper lip. He only said one word, ”Baggins.” It had Thorin confused until he continued, ”My biological last name is Baggins.”

Thorin smiled and hugged the blond man. ”Bilbo Baggins, my very own burglar. And you must be the best of them, because you have stolen my heart.” He leaned in again and brushed their lips together. This was the best ending for this day that Thorin could have hoped for. He had finally got this beautiful man all for himself and was never going to give him up. As the others continued their get together without them, Bilbo and Thorin exchanged sweet kisses out of the brightly lit party area. They stayed at the playground until everyone else had left when they finally made their way slowly to Thorin's small apartment.

If there was a knowing grin on Dwalin's lips the next morning, Thorin paid it no attention. He had much more important things to consider, like the beautiful man who had still been asleep next to him when Thorin had woken up. This was already turning out to be a good day and since the DI did not appear too murderous that his younger brother was dating him, Thorin saw his chance and spent most of the morning texting with Bilbo and staring into nothing like a man in love. Which he really was.

The End

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I know nothing about mushrooms. All the info was taken from here:
> 
> http://eol.org/pages/1009706/details
> 
> And 'Anton Serek' is an anagram of the Arkenstone. ;)


End file.
